Reuters: Stephen King Going to Bat for US Gov’t in Case Against Book Publishing Mega-Merger
August 1, 2022
The US Department of Justice’s trial against Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster began on Monday in an attempt to block a US$2.2 billion merger between the two publishing giants. The government’s case focuses on advances paid to the most successful authors, typically those given US$250,000 or more. Penguin’s defense is led by Daniel Petrocelli, who successfully defended AT&T’s merger with Time warner against a DOJ antitrust suit in 2018. Penguin argues that the merger will ultimately make the market for books and for publishers to win authors even more competitive.
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